


The Ornament Disintegration

by medusa20



Category: The Big Bang Theory
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Star Trek - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-20
Updated: 2012-06-19
Packaged: 2017-11-08 03:47:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/438801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/medusa20/pseuds/medusa20
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some Holiday Cheer written for Trippy41 as part of a big bang land challenge. Nebraska Cindy Lou Who faces off against The Galveston Grinch.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lauran41](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lauran41/gifts).



Sheldon looks up from cross referencing his crossover comic books and sniffs. His olfactory node processes the smell but he sniffs again to retest his hypothesis. He flings down the comic book and begins fuming instantly as he rises to leave his bedroom. If Leonard got into the cleaning supplies again! Messing with Sheldon's organizational system and rotation just so that he can hide evidence of some type of spill from Sheldon's eagle eye, well, he's got another thing coming.

Sheldon stomps down the hall and skids to a halt on the landing. He can't believe his eyes! His nose misled him! Leonard wasn't employing any type of cleaning solvent. It is much , much worse.

"What is that!" Sheldon hyperventilates, his long arm extended and even freakishly longer with his index finger pointed.

"That is Penny." Leonard's voice replies.

"I am aware of that." Sheldon snaps.

"Hi Honey." Penny calls cheerily to him

"I'll get to you later." Sheldon glowers at her. "No doubt this is all your doing to begin with."

"Relax, Sheldon. It's just a Christmas tree." Leonard emerges from the back of the tree, trailing a row of colored lights around it. Sheldon's eye is twitching so much, he can barely see.

" _Just_ a Christmas tree, Leonard? _Just a Christmas tree **!** _ Was the light bulb just another form of illumination? Was penicillin just another type of mold? Was the black goo in _Spiderman 3_ just another material for Spiderman to dress in?"

"Sheldon, honey, what is the problem here?" Penny dangles red, green, blue and silver Christmas balls on random branches. No thought or pattern or reflection or juxtaposition on the color wheel. Sheldon pinches the bridege of his nose.

"The problem, Penny, is that we do not acknowledge the pagan festival of Saturnalia in this apartment. Nor do we participate in the commercialism that has become Christmas nor do Leonard or I subscribe to the religious overtones of the season."

Penny slurps hot chocolate through a peppermint flavored straw. Her Santa hat is at a rakish angle and her green shirt is making her eyes sparkle. Either that or she's about to engage Sheldon in one of their endless battles.

"If that's the case, give me back the Nimoy napkin."

Sheldon's mouth hands open, "You wouldn't." He hisses.

"Hey, I don't make the rules here." Penny places down her mug and begins throwing tinsel willy-nilly on the tree. Sheldon's ulcer flares. "If you guys don't participate in all the holiday happiness, then that includes the receiving of gifts from Hollywood actors you idolize."

"But that's not fair!" He wails

"Oh, Shelly," Leonard pipes ,"if 'ifs, ands or buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas.'" He chuckles under Sheldon's vicious glare. Sheldon brings his fingers to his temples.

"Uh-uh," Leonard warns. "Santa is watching."

Penny skips over to the irate physicist. A few pine needles tinkle to the floor in her wake.

"This. This is why a real tree is bad." Sheldon rages at the miniscule needles on the floor. "This will be a constant shedding as the tree's life dwindles from it. A shedding which I will be responsible for cleaning up as Leonard won't notice and will track needles all over the apartment. They'll get in the beds, the bathroom, …" Horror crosses his face as he notes the tree's proximity to his spot. "MY SPOT." Penny silences him by shoving a sugar cookie in his mouth.

"Shut up, Ebenezer. We need you to place the star."

Sheldon makes a muffled protest through partially chewed snowman. Leonard shakes his hand and dots the tree with candy canes.

"She's only going to keep shoving cookies in your mouth until you give in." He tells his roommate. Sheldon swallows and stomps back to his room. Penny watches him leave, a little knot of disappointment forming in her stomach. Sure, part of the reason for getting the tree was to torment Sheldon but she did have another reason. That Christmas, when she gave him that napkin, had been one of the happiest she had ever celebrated. To this day, she could still recall the warmth of his arms around her. The awkwardness of the hug like a whooping crane coming in for a landing. Try as she might, Penny hadn't been able to get Sheldon to hug her again. Not like that. Not like he meant it.

Sheldon reappears, holding a Christmas ornament. The bust of Sir Isaac Newton

"Here is my contribution to the assault on the tree." He intones, dangling Sir Isaac Newton in f front of Penny.

"Hold on, if you hate Christmas so much, why do you have a Christmas ornament?" Penny challenges; Leonard groans.

"December 25th 1642 Julian calendar: Sir Isaac Newton is born. Jesus on the other hand was actually born in the summer." Sheldon informs her. "So this is not a Christmas ornament as you say, merely a symbol of another great man whose birth is routinely ignored."

"Okay, fine." Penny is just happy Sheldon is capitulating so easily. "Where did you get it?"

"Meemaw sent it to me.' Sheldon holds it out to her and Penny can see, inscribed on the bottom of the bust "To Monnpie. Love Meemaw"

"Oh, Sheldon. That's so sweet! Here, I know just where we can hang it."

Her fingers take the ornament. Penny stands on her toes, trying to place it at the top of the tree despite Leonard's warning about her angle of incline and small stature.

"There!" she is triumphant. Sir Isaac is swaying on his assigned branch. However, as soon as her fingers leave the twig, the ornament makes another swing and, carried by momentum, falls to the floor, shattering in a million pieces.

The three of them stare at the fragments. Sheldon looks up. His face as stricken as when he found green paint of his spot and no key maker was going to be able to fix this one.

"Oh, Sheldon. Oh God. Honey, I am so sorry." Penny reaches out to him. Sheldon finally takes in a breath.

"Congratulations, Penny. You've ruined Christmas." He stalks down the hall.


	2. Chapter 2

Leonard, Howard , Raj and Penny stare at the pile of golden dust in the dustpan. Leonard had called in the cavalry.

"No epoxy in the world can salvage that." Leonard finally says.

"Oh, isn't there something you guys can do?" Penny wails. What's the point of hanging around with geniuses if they can't fix stuff like this? Raj whispers to Howard who says to Penny

"Even the gods can't unscramble an egg, Sugar Plum."

Penny huffs a sigh and flings herself in Sheldon's spot.

"I see you are embracing the "two wrongs make a right" philosophy." Howard says pointedly; Penny taps her nose with a very specific finger.

"I'll talk to him." Leonard mourns. "Appeal to his better nature. Peace on Earth. Goodwill toward men. All that crap." He heads down the hall followed by Raj and Howard's "Dum, dum , DA-dum. Dum , da-dum, da-dum, da-dum"

Sheldon is in full fetal position. Leonard pauses in the doorway- it never ceases to amaze him that Sheldon can contract his long legs up that high.

"Hey, Buddy, can I come in?"

"If I were to say 'no', would that deter you in any way?"

"No." Leonard answers honestly. Sheldon exhales as if it pains him to breathe the same air as Leonard who steps into the room and instantly begins tugging the cuff of his second sweatshirt.

"See, here's the thing," Leonard begins. "Penny's really sorry…"

"That's strike three, Leonard." Sheldon bolts up but not before Leonard catches him giving his eyes a hasty swipe. "Do you hear that, Penny?" He hollers. "Strike three!"From the living room, they can hear Howard crowing that Penny now has to take the class.

"Sheldon, it's Christmas…" Leonard tries again.

"All the more reason to enforce the rules. For 7 years, we made no observation of this holiday and what did we have? Peace. Joy. Silence. Three things which, I believe, happen to be the pillars on which this festival is built." Sheldon's eyes are crackling and his arms are hugging himself so tightly Leonard wonders if a person can cut off his own circulation.

"So you're going to throw away a friend over an ornament?" Leonard tries reason( it never works and yet he persists. Reasoning with Sheldon. Trying to romance Penny. He is the very definition of insanity)

"An ornament given to me by my Meemaw- the only woman who understands me and loves me regardless."

Leonard's eyebrows hitch up, "Let me see if I understand. In your mind, the only woman who understands and appreciates the joy that is Sheldon is your grandmother and Penny's inadvertent and unintentional breaking of said ornament is a reflection of her inability to comprehend you as well as being a latent act of hostility?"

"See, it's as clear to you as it is to me." Sheldon replies.

Leonard walks over to a frame on Sheldon's nightstand and picks it up. In the frame is a signed napkin with the corner bearing the Cheesecake Factory's insignia folded up. It is mounted on the paper it came wrapped in and the gift tag, with the names of giver and recipient written in sparkly green ink, is in position in the lower right hand corner. Leonard tilts the frame toward Sheldon who licks his lips and curls up on the bed like a mollusk in its shell once more. Leonard puts the frame down. Just before he exits the room, he sings, "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch."

Sheldon's head pops up in indignation.

XXXX

Leonard walks back into the living room. Penny is still sitting in Sheldon's spot which strikes him as odd. She's hugging Sheldon's striped pillow which he finds troubling. Penny's eyes flicker to him. She bites her lower lip; Leonard shakes his head.

"Ooh!" She whines, dropping her head on the pillow. The scent of it is overwhelming. She had no idea Sheldon smelled this good. Whenever she sits next to him, they're smothered by the odors of takeout. She takes another deep inhale before looking up again.

"Don't worry about the class, Penny." Howard slides next to her. "We'll help you study for the final even if it takes _**all night."**_

"Eww."

"Yeah and the research paper isn't that intimidating now that most writing programs do the footnotes and works cited page for you." Leonard offers that consolation.

Penny leaps off the couch, still clutching the pillow.

"I'm not worried about that Whackadoodle's class!" She directs her voice down the hall. She turns back to them and lowers her voice.

"I'm worried that he'll never forgive me."

Penny hiccups back a sob, drops the pillow and flees the apartment.


	3. Chapter 3

Sheldon will not forgive her. It's just that simple. Penny's been forgiven too many times which is why her behavior never improves.

Sheldon backs out from under the tree. He carefully arranges the tree skirt so the opening through which he poured the water doesn't show and the pattern blends seamlessly.

Before getting up, he surveys the floor. Nary a pine needle in sight. He caps the gallon jug labeled TREE WATER. NOT FIT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION. A satisfied smile crosses his face as he returns the jug to the refrigerator. He realizes that he could market the concoction and make millions. It certainly would be more profitable than bioluminescent fish. There is always a market for Christmas trees.

The one infiltrating his living room looks better now than when Leonard and Penny brought it home. The branches have opened and, thanks to his botanical brew, the needles are deep Penny green, lush, shiny and vibrant. Sheldon had removed every strand of tinsel and replaced it with a garland of gold beads(like a chain of amino acids) draped around the tree. He then took the red, green, silver and blue ball ornaments and hung them in a repeating vertical and horizontal pattern with Leonard's candy canes highlighting the billows of the garland.

Sheldon sighs. The only thing marring his Martha Stewart -worthy tree is the absence of Sir Isaac. That, and Penny hasn't seen the tree for a week. Sheldon's mouth twists in a grimace. It's just like penny to abandon this poor tree after ripping it out of its element, forcing it to change into something it didn't want to be. Perhaps the tree was happy just being a tree. Though, Sheldon tilts his head, with Penny as the catalyst and Sheldon providing the finesse, the tree is a glorious sight.

No. Despite the time of year, he will not forgive her. He will not speak to her. He will not admit to the black hole her absence has created in his existence. He will, however, take care of her tree.

XXXX

When Penny's father locked her in the barn with that disassembled tractor engine and told her she wasn't coming out until it was up and running, she seriously considered that he'd lost his mind. She was fifteen then- a golden girl in high school. Everything came easy- friends, boyfriends, popularity( good grades, not so much). Penny simply had to bat her eyes and pout and life's unpleasantness just drifted away. Her father was not pleased with that.

"Why are you doing this?" She wailed and pounded on the door.

"It's for your own good, Slugger." Her father answered. "There is a brain in that head of yours. You can't get by on your looks alone. Life is going to through countless challenges at you and you will make mistakes. You have to learn to fix the unfixable."

That had been a Friday after school. Sunday morning, when Wyatt came to check on her, he was greeted by a roaring engine and a grease-covered daughter with a new-found iron will.

Repairing a tractor engine without a manual was a piece of cake compared to repairing her relationship with Sheldon.

Penny considers her "relationship" with Dr. Tall, Dark and Annoying as she sits alone in her apartment. She had refused Leonard's invitation to pizza night. Sheldon still wasn't talking to her. Between him and Raj, Penny was beginning to feel like some type of mythical creature that rendered men speechless and not in a good way.

Penny and Sheldon have all these unspoken rules for interacting with each other. She can cook his food, serve his food but, under no circumstances, can she touch his food. He can pick out her panties, sing her to sleep but can he see her naked. That's a big no-no.

It doesn't make sense how they circle each other then repel each other like magnets. How one week they'll be so close that words aren't necessary to speak and the next week they can't scream insults and barbs at each other loud enough. Penny does know she misses him. Misses the endless lectures on spinning electrons or Niels Bohr or why guacamole turns brown. She stares at her door. God, she even misses that damn triple knocking. Strange as it may seem, life isn't any fun without a dash of Sheldon. Penny laughs , recalling he did once say that his most endearing trait was playfulness. She never thought Sheldon could analyze himself so well.

Penny turns on the TV and begins clicking through channels until familiar theme music makes her stop. A knowing smile crosses her face. She boots up her laptop and sets about fixing the unfixable once more.

XXXX

Leonard taps Penny on the shoulder at the mailboxes.

"Oh, Leonard. You're still here." Penny blinks in surprise.

Usually, when a woman says that to me, it's dehorning after."

Penny laughs and shifts the box in her arms to her hip. It is heavier than she thought.

"I meant, I thought you would have left for you r sister's already."

"I had to get Sheldon settled first. Make sure there's food and water in his bowls and all that. Plus, I wanted to give you this." He holds out a small gift bag.

Penny's heart drops to her shoes. She doesn't want gifts from Leonard because no matter how small they are, they still come with a giant lump of desperation attached. Reluctantly, she takes the bag and peers inside.

"Superglue." She smirks.

"Yeah, it just came out of no where that you could really use this." Leonard laughs. "What's in the box?"

"Thanks" Penny grins. "This? It's for Sheldon." her cheeks pink as she answers. Leonard's brow furrows.

"Sh..Sheldon?"

"MmHm." Penny nods and heads for the stairs. Leonard lets her pass as he is blinded by a memory. Penny and Sheldon on that first day, a whiteboard and so much more between them until he hopped up and down , oozing 'Look at me! Look at me!' Sadness blooms briefly in him. It appears the train has gotten itself back on the track . The tree in his apartment is stunning. Sheldon treats it like a bonsai. Now here is Penny, her cheeks bright and her eyes glowing in anticipation to give a gift to a man who hasn't spoken to her in almost two weeks. It's too much for this homunculus.

"You guys aren't even speaking." Leonard reminds her. "and aren't you leaving to go to Nebraska?"

Penny waves him off, " I'm not leaving until this thing between me and Sheldon is settled."

The final nail in the coffin.

"Well, good luck with that." Leonard's shoulders slump.

"Thanks, Sweetie. Have a Merry Christmas and I'll see you at New Year's?"

"You bet." Leonard agrees as he thinks he'll be the one with his head in the oven.


	4. Chapter 4

Sheldon almost skips as he returns to 2311 Los Robles with his take-out from the Indian restaurant. Raj and Howard left this morning with Howard's mother, headed for relative sin Boca Raton. His mother agreed to a visit during the spring semester break thus sparing him 12 hours of church. Leonard was now on a cross-country flight to Guilt and Inadequacy-ville and would return in a week more permissive and compliant than ever. The corner of Sheldon's mouth lifts in a smile. He's practically giddy. And Penny? Penny is in Nebraska. Sheldon stops for a minute at that. He is alone. He steps onto his landing. Alone. It's Christmas and he is completely and utterly alone.

XXXX

When Penny walks into 4A after talking with Leonard, she is instantly reminded of an old squabble with Sheldon. It was probably over toothpicks or the subtleties between mauve and dusty rose. She's thinking of that quarrel not because of the topic but because, at one point, Sheldon, in response to her griping about why he was always in her face, had snapped, "Penny, 'the obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious takes a little longer'. Edward R. Murrow said that."

At that time, Penny's answer had been an eloquent, "That's the stupidest thing I ever heard and who the frak is Edward R. Murrow?" leading to another argument.

But now? Standing in the glow of the Christmas tree( Sheldon must have rigged some device so when _one_ entered the apartment, the tree blazed to life), the air rich with pine, Penny realizes this beauty before her has to be Sheldon's doing; Leonard couldn't even grow lima beans on paper towels. She hears the Murrow quote again. Will Sheldon ever cease to amaze her? She sincerely hopes not.

XXXX

Sheldon still hasn't entered his apartment. Penny wouldn't leave without saying goodbye! No matter how nasty their fights got, the two of them always fulfilled their social contracts. Sheldon even had a non-bath related gift for her wrapped and sitting on his bureau. He turns from his door and walks to hers. A snort escapes him at the jingle bell wreath hanging on Penny's door. It is a pale comparison to the tree in his living room.

Knock-jingle, knock-jingle, knock-jingle!

"Penny!"

Knock-jingle, knock-jingle, knock-jingle! (The bells are throwing off the rhythm.)

"Penny!"

Knock-jingle, knock-jingle, knock-jingle!(He may have to remove the wreath and begin again)

"Penny!"

There is no shuffling of feet. No faint sighing. No opening door. No penny.

Sheldon concludes getting exactly what he wants for Christmas sucks.

XXXX

Penny's head turns when she hears the muffled tinkling of bells and knocking a cross the hall. She glances at the coffee table before clicking off the lights in the apartment. The door opens. Sheldon enters and the tree flares.

"Penny!" He squawks when she appears before him. "I thought you had left."

Penny adjusts her Santa hat. "So , you're talking to me now?"

"Obviously."

"It's a Saturnalia miracle." Penny says dryly. Sheldon frowns.

"Was that sarcasm? Are we still fighting? What social situation is this?"

"Yes. Somewhat. An apology." Penny rattles off.

"Penny, I believe I made it very clear that I cannot overlook this." Sheldon tries to move past her but she blocks him.

"Then why were you knocking at my door?"

Sheldon looks down. Away. Up. Anywhere but at her.

"Sheldon, please. Why are you so hung up on that ornament? Is it because it came from your grandmother?"

"Of course not!" He barks. "I have items of far more significant value from Meemaw."

"Then what is the big deal?" Penny is toe-toe with him.

"The big deal is that you are careless. How you treat a person's is indicative of how you will treat that individual."

Penny jerks her head. Was Sheldon actually _implying_ something?

"Sheldon, honey, I came here to make things right between us. I won't be able to enjoy Christmas knowing you are still angry with me."

For once, he's silent. Two miracles in one night.

"So I got you this." Penny steps aside. On the coffee table is another tree. Table size. It is strung with blue lights. Spock blue. Sheldon blue. Penny had twined black and gold beads as garland. Sheldon steps closer as the ornaments have caught his eye. There are seven- A Vulcan command ship, the Enterprise, the transporter chamber complete with Kirk, Spock and Scotty, three different Spocks and one with Kirk and Spock.

"Penny, do you know what this is?" Sheldon touches the Kirk and Spock one.

She nods. "It's from _The City of the Edge_ episode. Kirk and Spock have to go back in time to repair the damage to history. Look, " She presses the ornament and it flashes and quotes from that episode play. "I got it because it is about fixing the past."

Sheldon stares at her, his eyes beyond wide.

"So, " Penny twists her fingers. "Can we go back to being friends?"

Sheldon touches each ornament once more.

"No." He says softly.

"No!" Penny cries. "What do you mean 'no'? Do you know how hard these were to find? How expensive? For God's sake, I made you your own Sheldon tree! What more do I have to do?"

Sheldon's answer is quick. It is lingering. It is chaste yet Penny can feel his racing pulse. It is warm but she is shivering. It is unsure while at the same time, knowing. Oh-so-knowing.

The best Christmas presents are the ones we never knew we always wanted.

The End


End file.
